Situated
by Bluecocoa
Summary: Ella gets kidnapped, and there is a mysterious note that threatens if the flock doesn't come and talk to Itex, whose headquarters are in Hawaii she will be killed! Meanwhile, on the way to save her, the flock gets a new member, and Max has competition!
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, this is my first fanfic, and it's kinda boring at first but it'll get exciting later. ****J**** And I wrote this at 3:30 in the morning, so sorry if it sux. I'll post Chapt. 2 up soon. Please please please review! Anyways, Enjoy!! :D **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride. (Duh. :P)**

**Chapter 1**

I stared in complete horror at my hands. What had she done to me? This was the far scariest experiment that had ever been performed on me. _Ever. _And the results weren't pretty.And believe me, I've been in some pretty scary situations before.

"You look like you're about to cry," Ella informed me. "Like your face is all red and everything."

I glared at her. Couldn't she see that I was in a very distressing and painful situation? I looked down at my hands, stricken.

"_You painted my nails,_" I hissed.

"But they look really cute!" Ella pointed out cheerfully. My eyes practically bugged out of their sockets.

"They're bloodred! It looks like my fingers are bleeding," I said in my most disbelieving tone.

"No, you're wrong." She crossed her arms in front of her chest. "It's candy apple red."

I rolled my eyes. "And you couldn't have tried out your new nail polish on Nudge Angel, Iggy, or Gazzy? Or Fang?" I added on as an afterthought.

Ella shrugged. "Angel's out back watching Total and Magnolia, Nudge is downstairs kicking Iggy's and Gazzy's butt at Call of Duty and Fang is out picking plums for Mom with her basket."

She gave me an innocent smile. I gave her my meanest look, and believe me, it's not something I use lightly.

Suddenly, the phone rang. I heard three simultaneous voices yelling "I'll get it!" Then there was a crash, and strangely, the sound of a yowling cat, and a shriek. Then all was mysteriously silent. I raised my eyebrows, concerned. When the three younger bird kids were in a competition to reach the phone, all was fair game.

I gave Ella my 'I'll kill you later' look, then scrambled downstairs quickly to find Nudge, Gazzy, and Iggy sitting in front of the TV, controllers and a Xbox spread out across the floor. I surveyed the room quickly, taking note of the damage. Nudge's hair looked a bit ruffled, but then it always was. Gazzy looked a little annoyed, but that was all. Dr. Martinez's prized glass table had a new scratch, running from one end down the side. I also searched for the cat, but nothing.

Angel was holding the phone to her ear, smiling victoriously. I shook my head. I really was going to have to talk to her about the whole 'mind controlling thing.' I watched Angel's brow furrow.

"Yes, she's here, would you like to speak to her?" She politely asked. It did my heart proud to see her so well mannered. Yep, and they had learned it all from me.

"Die, stinkball!" Gazzy yelled at the screen.

Angel skipped down to the kitchen where Dr. Martinez was cooking my favorite chocolate chip cookies, warm and crispy on the outside, yet chewy on the inside, and the fudgy goodness would melt in your mouth, leaving a sweet, tingling sensation- MUST STOP THINK ABOUT COOKIES.

I mentally berated myself. I had to stop myself before actual drool came out of my mouth.

I inadvertently watched Gazzy cackle delightedly. Nudge let out an evil giggle of her own. Suddenly I saw Iggy tense up, and instinctively I did too, years of being tracked and hunted making me instantly paranoid. I heard Dr. Martinez's low voice murmur into the phone. Even with my super good hearing, I couldn't understand what she was saying.

Her voice raised for a moment, and I made out the words "extremely difficult. My daughter-" then her voice was back to that soft murmur. Jeez. Talk about dangling the hook. I carefully picked my way through the wires and bird kids splayed across the carpet and made my way to Iggy. He sensed me coming and scooted over a bit to let me crouch down beside him on the sofa.

"You heard that?" I whispered so softly it was nearly inaudible.

He nodded almost imperceptibly at me, just a tilt of his chin. Iggy sat alert, listening to the conversation that my ears were straining to hear. He motioned for me to be quiet so he could listen. I rolled my eyes at him, and sighed when I realized my expression would be lost on him.

I finally heard a loud "Good bye," and my mom walked into the living room and placed the phone back on the receiver. She cleared her throat loudly, and we all turned to stare at her. I noticed Ella was standing at the foot of the stairs, and her gaze was shifting from our mom to-

I frowned. She wasn't really looking at me, more like somebody sitting right next to me. My eyebrow shot up.

Dr. Martinez smiled at all of us. "I have some news to tell you. Jeb called, but I'll tell you what he said when Fang gets back-"

The door _swushed _open, and Fang entered. I bit my lip at the sight of him, not because I wanted to run over and hug him and tell him I missed him, but because I was trying not to laugh. He was covered in splattered plums and was carrying a full basket at the crook of his elbow tied with a pink ribbon. It was pretty hilarious, let me tell you.

"Oh- thank you, Fang," Dr. Martinez hurried to get the basket from Fang, and placed it down next to her. I heard a small snicker, and Fang shot whoever a murderous glare that shut them up immediately.

"Well, you're right on time," Dr. Martinez told Fang. "If everybody could come to the dining room?..."

We all followed her into the large room already set for eight. Ella started to follow, but when she realized that she wasn't meant to hear it, she went back upstairs in a huff.

"So, what's crackin', Doc?" asked Total, putting his paws on the table.

My mom gave him a smile. "As I already told you, Jeb called, and he wanted for you to know that the CSM wants to organize an event that will spread more awareness about pollution, the ozone, etc."

Like nobody knew about the evils of Itex already? I could bet that there was not one person in the civilized world who hadn't heard about Itex, either from the CSM, Fang's Blog, or us, the flying bird kids. But since she was my mom, I kept myself from making that particular comment.

"The CSM had an idea to hold a public, live press conference where you all will be present, and Jeb and a few other scientists will explain what Itex is doing. It's pretty much similar to what you did in Mexico City, except no air shows."

"So we just stand there and look pretty?" Nudge asked.

Dr. Martinez nodded. "That's basically it. Of course, there will be a few reporters that want to ask you questions, and get more of the Antarctica story firsthand, but the CSM will coach you on what to say."

Nudge and Angel's eyes quickly turned to me, pleading. My stomach turned. The last time we were in Mexico City, we were surrounded by flashing cameras and people, so we weren't able to prepare for the attack from the M-Geeks. (M-Geeks. I love that name.) But I wasn't ready to go face the large, teeming crowd again. Not in a million years. It still gave me a claustrophobic feeling each time I thought about it.

"No. No way are we doing that again." I quickly averted my gaze from Nudge and Angel's big, begging eyes. One dose of the Bambi eyes then I would be a goner.

"Max-" Gazzy started, but I cut him off.

"No. We can't go. Remember what happened last time? And you guys know that the media and I don't really cozy up."

I looked at Fang for backup. He tossed his head to get the hair out of his eyes. His dark eyes met mine and I knew he was with me on this one. He knew everything about me, and our minds were so alike. Heck, no wonder I loved him-

I hadn't just thought that, had I? No way could that idea had come from me. There was a small cough from Iggy, and I realized that I had been staring at Fang for probably about ten billion minutes and everybody was looking at me. Angel was smiling hugely, having picked up on my last thought. I scowled at her. Little mind-reading brat. I looked everywhere but at Fang, and out of my peripheral vision I saw that the corner of his mouth was uplifted slightly.

"So," I said a little too loudly, and everybody jumped. Everybody but Fang, of course. "We can't risk this. We are not going to the live press conference, okay?"

"But Max-" Gazzy protested.

"No buts." I said firmly. "All we need is a bunch of Flyboys or M-Geeks or whatever the whitecoats dreamt up this time to come after us and try and kill us _LIVE_."

I pushed back my chair and walked to the door. I heard somebody mutter, "yeah, cause that would be the worst thing ever," and I stomped outside.

**Okay so I've gotten up to chapt. 5 written. Please review!!!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you thank you thank you****so much for the reviews! It really made my day :) **

**Chapter 2**

I felt so much more better once I was outside and I no longer felt trapped, knowing that I could just fly away whenever I wanted. I shot up straight into the air and unfolded my wings half a second later. Once I was high in the sky, I shot straight forward, flying as fast as I could. I estimated that I was clocking around two hundred seventy five mph, and I willed myself to go faster. The frigid cold felt like it was slapping me in the face, so I kept my head down. After about ten minutes of flying, when I felt that I had cooled down some, I started back towards Dr. Martinez's house.

When I went inside, I saw Gazzy and Iggy looking at me nervously, (or in Iggy's case, turning his head in my direction nervously) and Nudge and Angel kept giving me concerned looks. I sighed. It wasn't like I was going to explode or anything and shower everybody with little pieces of Max bits. I didn't see Fang, but he was probably working on his blog. I tromped upstairs and instantly fell face down on my bed. I was dead exhausted. I heard a knock at the door.

"Go away," I moaned. The door opened slowly.

"Hi Max," Ella said, and closed the door softly behind her.

"What do you want." My voice was muffled by my pillow.

"I just came to see if you were alright." I lifted my head to look at her peering at me anxiously.

"No, I'm perfectly fine. I feel great. In fact, I feel particularly peachy this afternoon." I let my head drop back onto the pillow.

"Max-" she hesitated, and put a hand on my back. "You can tell me anything, you know."

"There's nothing to tell," I told her.

"Well, you know that you can come to me if you need to talk about anything, anything at all, right?"

"Sure," I mumbled. Where was this headed?

"Well, okay." Ella made herself comfortable on my bed, crossing her legs.

"It's just that I have like, midterms soon and Jose' and his friends are now messing with my friend and on top of that, it's like Iggy barely knows I'm alive even though I really like him, and I just wanted to listen to someone else's' problems for once, you know?"

My brain stopped functioning after processing the words, _I really like him._ So you can't blame me for my next sentence.

"_What?_" This had to be my most creative, original, intellectual sentence that I had ever strung together. I was sure of it.

"Oh, wait. Didn't I tell you?" Ella asked. "I thought I was making a little obvious… but maybe not. Well, I like Iggy."

"You like _who_?" I repeated dumbly.

"Max? Are you okay? Your face looks a little… purple." I realized I hadn't been breathing a sucked in a huge lungful of air, and I felt the little hamster in my head start running again on his little wheel.

I guess that explained why she had been gazing at him earlier. I decided to try and reason with her.

I sat up. "Okay. Ella. Let's look at the facts. We're refuges. We travel everywhere, and we won't be able to take you with us. And besides, maybe you might want to try sticking to your own species?"

Just what I needed: another love story. There once was a human girl who thought she was in love with her half sister's friend who also had wings!

She sighed. "Yeah I know it's pointless. But I was hoping that you would kind of try and find out what he thinks about me?"

Was she asking me to try and be Cupid and shoot arrows of love into Iggy's hienie? I couldn't imagine it. Well, except for the fact that me and Cupid both had wings. Maybe I would make a good Cupid, I mused. I could sneak up behind people and hit them with a powerful dose of Max-controlled love. I deviously started plotting ways to attack Iggy's unfortunate blind butt.

"Max?" This time Ella's voice was more urgent, and I regretfully gave up on my plans to control love.

"Are you _sure_ you're okay? Your nostril is kind of… twitching."

I didn't know if Iggy even considered Ella as anything more then my half sister, but I sure as heck could find out for her.

"I'll try," I sighed. I felt the bedsprings creak and I was suddenly ambushed by Ella, as she gave me a big hug that threatened to squeeze the life out of me.

"Ella," I choked out.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyou so much! And if everything works out between us, I'll try to help you and Fang to finally get together!"

"Wha-" I started, but she had already shut the door behind her.

The door opened again, and Ella's head peeked in.

"It could be much worse. I could be in love with him," she said, grinning widely.

"YOU'RE TWELVE YEARS OLD! YOU'RE NOT IN LOVE!" I screamed and threw a pillow at her. Unfortunately the door was open long enough for my words to be heard throughout the whole house, but closed fast enough so that the pillow merely rebounded off the door. I shook my head. "Kids," I muttered.

**I know this chater was kinda popped outta nowhere, but I just had to write it :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**5 reviews! Yayyyy :)**

**Thank you to all those people who reviewed! **

**Chapter 3**

In the end I agreed to at least meet with the members of the CSM, at a meeting in Idaho. I'm not sure why it was there, but I after a look from Dr. Martinez, I obliged, no questions asked. Ella and my mom wanted to drive us all there, but I preferably did not want to stay in a cramped car for a long period of time with the Gasman, so I tried to convince them to let us just fly there. It didn't work.

I sat in Dr. Martinez's Pilot, which was a pretty cool car, all things considered. Dr. Martinez and Ella sat in the front, me, Angel and Fang sat in the middle, and Nudge, Gazzy and Iggy sat in the back. Total had told me that he couldn't come; he was busy planning his big wedding with Akila, a malamute and also his doggy girlfriend. Total had told me mournfully about how sad he was to leave the flock without protection, and I tried to convince him that we would somehow get along. He had also informed me that Akila would be picking the dresses, including the one for the bridesmaids. Grr.

We stopped at a gas station, and we bought some protein bars, then continued on the long car ride.

I thought it was pretty funny, you know, us bird kids going on a road trip like some normal family. Iggy and Gazzy were muttering conspiratorially to each other, Angel and Nudge were debating which color was more girlier, light pink or hot pink, and of course, Fang was on his laptop. Sometimes I really worried about him. I leaned over to see what he was writing, because I knew it would annoy him. But he didn't seem to notice, and just ignored me. He was replying to one of his fan mails. This one was sent by xoTanyaxo. It read, 'Hey Fang. I was wondering… if you and Max aren't going out, maybe you'd like to spend a little quality time together? I live in CL. Come visit me sometime.' Before I could feel defensive or offended, he immediately moved the letter to a different folder. It was titled, 'Fan girl mail.' And the number next to the folder read…. 421?!

"You had to be a player, didn't you?" I muttered, poking his shoulder. He shrugged.

"Looking this good comes at a price." Was all he said.

I rolled my eyes at him and he smirked at me. Sometimes he really drove me crazy.

Three meals, two gas stations, and five hours of nonstop Nudge chattering, we came to a motel. Me and Fang practically scrambled over each other in our race to get out of the car to stop our eardrums aching. Dr. Martinez got us two rooms. Hey, there is only so much a mom/vet/former scientist can spend. The flock split in half, girls in one room and guys in the other. I offered to sleep on the floor, since I am the most generous and thoughtful person I know. An hour later, everybody was sound asleep. And as usual, I had trouble sleeping. But this time, I stayed up for longer than usual. Two hours later, it was two in the morning and I decided to go outside for a nighttime spin, Avian American style.

I silently got up from my makeshift bed, glancing down as I did so. I smiled. It was so strange seeing Nudge with her mouth closed. Angel and Nudge looked so… peaceful. There was nothing chasing them in their dreams, and they didn't need to worry about Flyboys or Mr. Chu or always being on the run, always hiding. In their sleep, they forgot about being a freak with wings. They were just… normal. I saw a little smile creep onto Angel's face, and Nudge started muttering something like, "no, I wanted the _purple_ dress…"

I rolled my eyes affectionately and silently unlatched the lock leading to the balcony, and I closed the door softly behind me. Taking a deep breath, I launched myself over the railing and into the sky.

I let myself free fall for a moment, and then unfurled my wings slowly, letting them catch the wind. Then I rocketed up high, and glided, coasting on the air current. I closed my eyes, enjoying the sensation of feeling my wings being able to expand and feel free, the wind caressing my face and hair.

Then, I felt it. The prickly sensation at the back of my neck that I had when I knew there was something watching me. I whirled around, expecting to see a little Itex minion, and yelped.

Flapping in front of me, with his arms crossed, was Fang, looking as nonchalant as ever. I let out my breath in a huff.

"I told you to stop doing that!" I exclaimed, my cheeks turning red.

"Doing what?" he asked me innocently.

"We're not having this conversation again," I told him, shaking my head.

"Anyways, why are you here?"

"Well, I could ask you the same thing," he replied. "Flying around at two in the morning, it really is dangerous, you know. You could be mugged," he said with a straight face.

I rolled my eyes. "Answer the question. Why are you here? Are you stalking me?"

He raised his eyebrows. "Stalking? Hardly. But if you want me to go back inside…" he shrugged and turned around.

"No- wait." I said.

He turned back to me, the corner of his mouth twitching.

"Let's go," I grumbled, and started heading forward. He easily caught up to me, his large black wings gleaming dark purple under the moonlight. We flew together in silence for a few minutes, flying side by side.

"So, how's your blog coming?" I asked, the silence broken.

"It's fine," he said, and the conversation was over.

After a few more minutes of silence, he spoke up.

"The Voice in your head bothering you still?" he asked.

I frowned. Truth was, I hadn't heard from the Voice in a few days. Lucky for me.

"No," I said. "I'm not sure why it's leaving me alone. But by hell I don't miss it." I stretched quickly. "Then again, I guess there's nothing that the Voice thinks that is important enough to speak up." I shrugged.

_You're young, Max. You deserve some privacy during your few moments of romance. Just because I don't talk doesn't mean that it isn't important._

I tried not to jump. The Voice was back. I glared at Fang mentally, for bringing up the subject.

_What the heck are you talking about? This is __not_ _romantic! Having a conversation with Fang is __not__ important and definitely __not__ romantic!_

Only too late, I realized that I had said that last part aloud. I glanced up at Fang, who was raising an eyebrow at me.

"The Voice," I mumbled apologetically, and my face flushed. Out of the corner of my eye, I think I saw Fang trying to suppress his laughter. I shot him the birdie, and he flicked me right back. We came upon a large hotel, and we both landed gracefully on the rooftop.

I settled on the ledge, my feet dangling off the rooftop. Fang sat next to me, likewise. I let my wings fan out a bit to brush Fang's, and I leaned back.

Fang was looking off into the distance, his dark eyes glinting brightly as he ruffled his secondary feathers. And icy breeze brushed by, and I shivered involuntarily.

"You cold?" Fang asked, and rubbed the tops of my arms. Suddenly, a thought came to mind. I twisted around to look at him.

"Do you know who Iggy likes?" I asked.

**Please, if you have any criticism or feedback for the story, let me know! **


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey, check out this story called EMI: the angel experiment. It's really good!! :]**

**mebeemmy: yea she will in the next chapter :) Sorry it's taking so long but Ella is currently mad at me because I told her that she was gonna get kidnapped :( We're ignoring each other.**

**I just realized, if there ever was a zombie apocalypse, vampires (and maybe werewolves) would be the only ones to survive? That's what I get for watching Resident Evil, 1, 2, & 3 all in one day. Alice reminds me very much of Max, getting her own clone and having awesome powers. :) **

**Chapter 4**

Fang turned to look at me, and f I hadn't known him for most of my life, I wouldn't have been able to tell that he was surprised. Very.

"And you call me a player," he said. "Why? Are you interested?" A flicker of a grin crossed his face.

"Ewwww. No." I said. I glared at Fang. He was enjoying himself, I could tell. "Ella was interested. She wants to see if she has a chance." I waited for Fang to shake his head, to say to tell Ella that it was pointless. But instead, he grimaced.

"You do understand that we're in trouble, then? Iggy asked me the other day to find out the same thing. But he believes that since he's a traveling mutant bird freak, he doesn't have a chance, so he doesn't take his chances seriously."

"Really?" I asked, frowning intently at the cement. "Ella thinks she doesn't have a chance _because_ he's a traveling mutant bird freak."

"I suppose we have a little problem here, then," Fang said unnecessarily.

"I agree." I cocked my head. "So now what do we do? Are we going to try and get them together, play matchmaker, or what?" I could bet that Ella was going to be delighted. Thrilled. I was glad at least her love life would hopefully be more successful as mine.

Fang pushed me. "Shut up. I can't imagine you as a love guru, though."

"What ever do you mean?" I asked innocently. "I am the one who started love. People come from all over to ask me for advice in their love life. I know everything there is to know about love. I am the pinnacle of all love gurus that there ever was. So don't you try and tell me that I don't resemble a love guru, when I am the champion of them all."

"And yet you still don't have a boyfriend," he muttered.

I gave him a sulky look. "That's not my fault," I declared. "I would have one, if it weren't for the fact that we had to run away from the Taser wielding principals. And if Sam wasn't a maybe-Eraser." And if you would stop paying so much attention to the Red Haired Wonder and stopped confusing me with your random kisses, I added silently.

"Is Sam still your doting admirer?" Fang asked.

"Is Brigid still your pedophile?" I shot back, then clamped down on my lip hard. Crap, I hadn't meant to say that.

Fang looked a little taken aback, then looked irritated.

"What?" he asked.

"Puh-leez. You guys flirt with each other each time you get the chance." SHUT UP, MAX! I told myself, willing my mouth to close. But it kept rambling on, refusing to stop.

"Is that what you think." Fang's voice was dangerously calm and quiet.

I looked at my feet, my toes wiggling in the cold. "No. Maybe. I guess." I let one shoulder rise. I bit my lip, waiting for his response.

"I find that extremely interesting, considering the fact that Brigid has a steady boyfriend, whom she was been going out for over a year with."

I swear to you, I almost toppled off the roof and plotzed onto the cement below. (Good thing I have wings.)

"Whaaat?" I inquired politely. At the top of my freaking air sacs.

What a time to drop this little bomb, huh? I mean, this kid probably had lessons on how to drive somebody nuts enough for the cuckoo hut. _101 Ways to Knock People's Socks Off._

Fang rolled his eyes at me. "If you hadn't been the one to first notice that Angel could read minds, and that the Gasman had a… erm, a special ability, I would be sure that you were completely ignorant to everything around you."

Just letting you know, in case you haven't noticed already, I have a problem about my abilities being undermined. Just a teeny, tiny little problem. So when Fang called me ignorant, I was pretty ticked off.

"I am not ignorant! I am very un-ignorant, unlike you!" I said indignantly. "Give me an example of how I'm ignorant."

Fang leaned back on his hands and pretended to consider, while I actually considered stabbing him with a knife repeatedly while taking his eyes out with a pogo stick.

"You are so, incredibly annoying, you know that?" I muttered. The corner of Fang's mouth quirked in an almost half smile, and I had to smile back. It just felt so good, sitting on top of the rooftop with by best buddy, alone. I looked into his eyes and saw the exact same emotions I was feeling reflected in his. Suddenly, his hand was on my cheek, and his eyes were on my face, looking deadly serious. I gulped, frozen to the spot. Was he going to give me one of his kisses that came from out of nowhere? Fang really could be random sometimes, I thought dizzily, as I tipped my head back. His hand slowly started gliding down my cheek and cupped my neck, and I couldn't stop myself from leaning in too, as I inhaled his delicious scent. And our lips were a second away from meeting each other, and I got prepared for the tingly sensation that ran all throughout my head to my toes.

But as you readers sadly, know too well, I don't get many moments to myself. And this fact was proven almost instantaneously.

"Fang? Max? Is that you?" A small voice penetrated through my giddy, high thoughts. I swiveled around quickly to see Nudge landing on top of the rooftop elegantly, brushing off her jeans.

"Max?" I saw a medium size set of wings flying towards me at a fast rate, and my jaw set. _Gazzy_.

_**I'm sorry Max,**_ Angel's voice said in my mind. _**I tried to stop them.**_ Angel's pure white wings were moving slowly, veering this way and that. I rolled my eyes. Figured. It wouldn't be the three musketeers without her.

Nudge bit her lip. "Were you doing something important?" she asked worriedly.

I gave her a completely overdone fake smile. "Not anymore sweetie," I said sweetly. "What's wrong?"

Nudge shrugged. "I couldn't sleep, so I was going to the bathroom, and then I noticed you weren't there so I tried to sneak out to find you, but then Angel woke up and Gazzy came in from the other room and I told them I wanted to go alone but Angel tried to stop me and Gazzy wouldn't take no for an answer so we all just came." She said in one breath. "Oh yeah, and Iggy didn't want to wake up. He said he needed his beauty sleep."

I noticed Gazzy looking confused, casting glances between me and Fang.

"What were you guys doing?" he asked innocently.

Gazzy looked from Fang to me, and back, and with each clueless, confused look I was getting more and more tense.

"Just talking," Fang and I said at the same time. Gazzy looked at us again. Seriously, I was ready to rip this kid's _throat_ out.

"Oh," Gazzy said. "_Oh_," he said again, and his eyes widened, terrified, as if we were going to start making out in right in front of him. Yeah. Not gonna happen.

He took a frightened small half step behind Nudge. Angel finally reached us, her large, bright blue eyes glowing.

"I think that we should get off now, before the janitor comes," she told me earnestly, her curls squashed against one side of her face.

"You're right, we should get back," I said tonelessly. "The others will be waking up soon." Never mind that it was about three in the morning.

"Hey, you kids! Watcha doin' up here at night?" A husky, thin voice yelled from behind us. I quickly swiveled around, doing a 180, but only finding a tiny man in dirty too-big overalls and a nine-o-clock shadow. He waved a broom at us.

"We don't allow riffraff like you up and the roof!" He yelled, then frowned.

"Hell, we don't allow any kids up here on this roof! Get down now before I call the cops!"

The younger set gave me another worried look. They had been seriously concerned about me ever since I agreed to go to the conference.

I chanced a glance at Fang. He was standing ramrod straight, and he nodded at me without really looking at me. I sighed inwardly. God, I hoped I hadn't offended him. Suddenly tired, I wanted to go back to the motel and sleep for a very, very long time. I wearily took off into the night, Fang and the rest of the flock right behind me. When we reached our balconies, I opened my mouth to say good night, but he just stepped inside his room and shut the door without a word. I bit my lip. Jeezum, he really took his martyr macho man rep to heart. I didn't even remember falling asleep. I just remembered collapsing on my makeshift bed, and closing my eyes.

**Please review! I really want to hear what you guys think of this!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Woah this is a long chapter! It's could be like, 2. Well hope you enjoy it anyways!**

**cassemlyds529: aww thank you! I think JP writes it better tho :) **

**mebeemmy: Yay good for you! :) Hahaha yeah that was kinda confusing… but giving Brigid a girlfriend could be interesting. Hm…**

**Chapter 5**

Considering the results of past interrogations/meetings, I was not particularly looking forward with the appointment scheduled with CSM. Surprising, huh? And even worse, they had scheduled it at seven in the morning. Seven in the morning! It wasn't as if the CSM people had a life. They had nothing to do, so why schedule it this early? This was just the beginning of my lovely, sugar filled sundae.

Then we had to drive to get there, and I had to spend a whole forty five minutes listening to Ella and Iggy bicker affectionately, due to Fang informing Iggy part of our conversation the previous night. After a while, I snapped at them to shut up because I was trying to sleep when I was actually eating my lunch, which caused me to be rewarded with strange looks the rest of the car ride. So it was no wonder that I by the time we got to the tall nineteen story, glass building, I was ready to bite off of anybody's head, if they so much as talked to me. I was in a mood.

As we walked through the double glass doors, I saw Brigid waiting for us, flashing a brilliant smile towards… well, you can guess who. Angel took my hand and squeezed it comfortingly.

Brigid gave Fang another dazzling smile and led to a long flight of stairs. God, it irritated me to no end how she seemed to know about us, and she respected that we didn't like going up an elevator. Couldn't she try being _rude_ for once? And when we finally had climbed up to the fourteenth floor, she only looked a little tired, and not a single hair out of her neat bun was out of place. I furiously began to wonder how much Fang would like her after I was done with her in a fight.

The flock had been distancing themselves from me slowly but surely. Now walking about six feet behind me, I saw them throwing scared looks my way. That was all I had been getting these past few days. I imagined how I looked to the rest of the flock, red eyes, Medusa glare, and every time I breathed, smoke would come out of my nose and ears.

We were shipped into a large, highly air-conditioned room plastered with posters of rock bands I had never heard of. There were two large mahogany tables set up next to each other, filled with normal looking buissnessy people.

This came as a surprise. All of the times I had been interviewed, the room was usually filled with whitecoats and their clipboard holding assistants. But this was just filled with normal looking people. I took a quick note of all the windows, doors, any routes or passageways. I knew I couldn't break through the glass wall at the front side of the room, maybe if I had a bazooka or something. But I saw that the only thing we could use for an exit was the door that we had just entered from, which put me immediately on edge.

"Max." I heard Jeb's familiar voice echoing throughout the room. My head whipped to the voice, startled.

"Oh. It's you again." I made myself sound disappointed and slightly bored. Jeb offered me a smile, which I responded back with a glare. This was not a day to mess with Max.

"I'm glad to see you made this meeting. We were just about to start without you. Here, have a seat." He motioned to seven empty chairs along the back of the otherwise crowded room. I managed to not roll my eyes with some difficulty. Yeah, like the meeting could have started without us. Like, I'm so sure.

There was a guy standing in front a few feet away from me holding a clipboard, his large white coat practically enveloping him. He was pretty short, and looked geeky to the extreme. He licked his lips nervously, and pushed his slipping glasses up.

"_I am guessing_ that you are the six bird children?" he asked, putting emphasis on the _I am guessing_.

"Yes you are, and you're doing a wonderful job of it," I told him encouragingly, patting him on the back with vigor. "Don't let anybody tell you otherwise." I didn't like being called children. It made me feel like toddlers, or something.

The guy's face flushed, but he bit back his retort and went back to his clipboard.

"Max, F- um, _Fang_, Iggy, _Nudge_, the Gasman?-" His voice kinda dove into a high pitched squeak a the end. We just stood there, waiting. "Angel," he finished.

"Yup, that's us," Nudge said cheerfully. "But of course, those aren't our _real_ names."

"Oh, of course not," said the guy, sounding a little relieved. "I wouldn't have thought that that's what your parents actually-"

"I have a different name too," Gazzy interrupted quickly. "My name is actually Bartholomew, but I go by Bart."

"Me too," Iggy offered up unexpectedly. "I'm really Miley Cyrus, but everybody knows me as Hannah Montana. Or Angelina Jolie," he added, considering. I didn't even bother to ask who these people were. We were led to the back of the room, towards our seats.

Brigid took her stance at the front of the room, standing next to a large screen. I slid myself into my seat, and saw that Fang had coincidentally chosen to sit in the seat that had a guy who strangely resembled Fang on the poster behind him. Well, except for, you know, the eyeliner, the purple mohawk, and the crazed rocker expression on his face.

Iggy was drumming his fingers on his jeans so fast they were a blur, and even Nudge was fidgeting with the hem of her shirt.

And I understood perfectly. This room gave off some weird, tense vibe. And not just because of the lack of escape routes.

I noticed the guy at the head of the room, holding a pointer, opening his mouth to speak, when I interrupted him.

"Excuse me? Where is the food?" I frowned, pretending like there was some huge major problem that I had to point out.

The guy looked at me in surprise. I guessed he had expected us to have some manners, or something stupid and idealistic like that.

"Don't make me repeat myself. Where's the food?" I asked, motioning to the empty tabletop.

The guy started to look irritated. He was pretty bony, and his skin was some sort of unattractive pasty color. He pushed his wire rimmed glasses up his skinny nose impatiently.

"We didn't know that we would be serving food. However, if that's what you were told, I apologize, but we will not be providing food." He didn't sound very sorry. His voice was high and nasal, making it sound like he had the flu, or whatever. "But maybe you should have eaten before you came. I suggest we proceed with the meeting?"

I nodded and pretended like I was all embarrassed about the whole thing. He took a deep breath to start again when I deceptively broke in again.

"But we're _hungry_. Every meeting or conference or interrogation we've gone to, we've been fed." _Lie. _"Even when we were locked up in a dungeon, our captors gave us chocolate chip cookies." Not to say that we ate any. "Are you aware that your hospitality is worse than a stinkin' lab full of evil, mastermind scientists who have been raised by ogres their whole life?!" Okay, now I was stretching the truth. But this loser was seriously asking for it.

Jeb shot me a reprimanding look, but I just ignored him. The wimpy guy up front's (I'll call him... Mr. Wimpy, sometimes my imaginative skills amaze even me) face turned redder then a tomato. He grudgingly leaned over to the side and muttered something into an old lady's ear, who nodded and scurried out of the room hastily. I could feel the flock's gazes burning holes through me, but I really didn't care. I had just scored them some food. You think they'd be grateful. I kicked my muddy shoes up on the glossy, polished table and leaned back in my chair, satisfied. Mr. Wimpy cleared his throat. He looked a little scared to open his mouth again, to tell you the truth. But I didn't interrupt him. Not this time, anyways.

"Well, Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel," his mouth did this funky seizure thing.

Okay, I'll just summarize what he said for you. He told us if we told the CNN, Fox News, and abc all this crap about global warming destroying the icecaps the CSM would give us six tickets for free vacations in Hawaii, complete with a four star hotel for us to stay in. I didn't know where they had gotten the money for that, but being smarter than the average winged fourteen year old, I understood what they were telling us perfectly.

"You're _bribing_ us?" I asked in total disbelief.

Mr. Wimpy shrugged at me.

"We are not bribing you. We're simply offering you a reward if you agree to help save the planet," he hissed. "Remember, six tickets to Hawaii, and we'll have part of the beach reserved for your privacy."

Oh yeah, I could see it now. Me clad in a scanty bikini, and there would be a red velvet rope to hold off the horde of gawking people, snapping photos of my wings. Not.

I saw Nudge practically vibrating in her seat with excitement and Iggy shooting me a hopeful glance.

"You're bribing us, aren't you?" I asked. "Tickets to a vacation in Hawaii in exchange for us doing that conference thing."

Mr. Wimpy stiffened. "No, you're twisting my words around. That's not what I-"

I suddenly stood up, pushing my chair back. I could feel my earlier mood coming back to me, and my fists clenched.

"Oh, like I'm totally sure that's not what you meant. Do you have like any morals at all? Bribing a bunch of kids with food and beaches," I said angrily. "C'mon guy, let's blow this joint." Fang tapped the back of Iggy's hand twice and we stalked off out the room, and I could hear shocked silence. Turning a sharp left to the stairway, I almost ran directly into the old lady from before, carrying a bunch of trays, topped with food. I grabbed a bagel of the top and took a bite. "Grab what you can," I instructed them, and walked downstairs as fast I could.

And _that_, my friends, was the maraschino cherry on top of my freakin sundae.

Fang's POV

I flew above Max, and I watched her strong, mottled tan wings beat through the air with powerful strokes. Her hair was swept all around her face, the golden and brown strands blowing behind her. It would have been a beautiful sight, except for the murderous glare on her face. I sighed quietly. She had been in a temper ever since-

_Ever since I tried to kiss her last night, _I thought to myself. I knew she already carried too much on her genetically engineered shoulders, and I wanted to lift the load off her shoulders, the load of taking care of the flock, the load of keeping us all safe. Of course I would never want to take the position of being the flock's leader. _No_, I thought grimly. That was what Max was best at. I had been reminded of that when the flock split, and I remembered wondering how Max just made up plans on the spot, how she lied with total genuineness, and how she watched out for the flock always, or comforting them and tending to their scrapes and bruises with care.

Right now we were flying back towards the motel we had been staying at earlier this morning, with Ella and Dr. Martinez. They had promised us to go right back to the Californian border after the meeting, and nobody was particularly anticipating the long car ride.

Tension hung in the air, so thick you couldn't have cut it with an axe.

"Max?" Nudge asked hesitantly, biting her lip nervously.

I saw Iggy and Gazzy clench in front of me, waiting for Max's reaction.

"Yes?" Max asked, her voice carefully calm and in control. I could feel the anger rolling off of her in mounting waves.

"Well, I was wondering if you were okay," Nudge said carefully. "I mean, you've been acting weird lately."

"Oh, have I really?" Max asked, sarcasm dripping from her voice.

Gazzy nodded earnestly, not noticing the lasers shooting out of her eyes. "You were a little mean to that guy back there," he said. "I mean, you didn't even ask if we wanted to go to Hawaii or not.

I gave Max six seconds before she exploded.

"So then how do you want me to act?" Max ground out the words.

Gazzy looked a little taken aback, but seemed to be mulling over her question.

_No, Gasser, don't fall for it,_ I thought.

"I don't know," Gazzy said seriously. "Just not, so, so… bitchy," he said as if he were trying out the word for the first time.

I instantly felt bad for Gazzy. Max whirled around and stopped in midflight, causing Angel to almost fly headfirst into her.

"What. Did. You. Say?" She asked menacingly through gritted teeth. I tuned out the rest of the conversation as we neared the motel, dimly aware of Max chasing Gazzy in circles around us, and Iggy dodging them nimbly. I noticed that he was flying in the front, probably eager to get back to his girlfriend. I sighed again. Iggy was obsessed with Ella, he couldn't stop talking about her. He was starting to get as bad as Nudge.

Nudge flew in accordance with Iggy, since she and Ella were around the same age they had gotten pretty close too.

The motel was a tiny little speck now, and Max had Gazzy in a headlock. My wings beat in a smooth, steady rhythm that increased when we got nearer to our destination. My eyebrows drew together a centimeter, something was wrong. But I, having the best eyesight of the flock, saw that nobody else had seemed to noticed have it yet.

The motel looked smaller, and more irregularly shaped. Something gray was wafting out from the top. Angel let out a little whimper of shock, and I didn't need to ask her why. A second later we were facing what looked like the remnants of a hurricane attack.

The motel's roof and first, second and third stories were totally gone, it had caved in and collapsed all the way onto the first story. You could see the framework of the building, the wooden beams supporting what little plaster and bricks that was left of the walls. Disconnected black wires hung everywhere, and occasionally a spark flared sending little sounds of crackling electricity through the air. Planks and debris covered the ground, and dust billowed everywhere, making it hard to breathe. The motel was a scene of complete disaster.

Max was flying faster now, and her wings moved so fast she was a blur. I followed her easily, even though she didn't know I could fly as fast as her now. She flew straight over the top of the motel and dive bombed inside to the first floor. Her face was a mask of worry and panic.

In the middle of the now hardly recognizable lobby was Dr. Martinez, surrounded by overturned furniture and rubble. Max skidded to a halt, and I almost ran into her. Iggy _did_ run into me, and he let out a small "oof".

Dr. Martinez had her head in her hands, and her usually sleek black hair was covered in gray and straggled around her face. I watched as Max stepped forward slowly, and I had to restrain myself from trying to take her hand to comfort her.

She leaned down next to her mother, and put a hand on the shoulder.

"Mom? Are you okay? What happened?" She bit her lip. "Where's Ella?" Max's voice took on a hard edge.

Dr. Martinez didn't respond for a while, and I felt Iggy fidgeting impatiently behind me. But she lifted her head, and her red, puffy eyes were all the answer I needed.

"They took her," she whispered, and dropped her head back into her hands. Wordlessly, she handed Max a small folded piece of paper, smudged with dirt. Max's hands were trembling as she unfolded the note, as I clenched mine.

Her eyes scanned the paper slowly, due to our less than covetous education. She opened her mouth then closed it, and dropped the note almost unconsciously and fell to her knees.

I was dimly aware of picking up the note and reading it out loud for Iggy, Nudge, Angel and Gazzy, and their distant gasps echoed in my ear. But I was past noticing. I was just watching Max. Max was on her knees, and her eyes were blank, staring at nothing. And as she turned around and buried her face into my jacket, I heard quiet, almost inaudible sobs coming from the leather. I wrapped my arms around her and stroked her hair, expressionless. The hasty, scrawling handwriting from the note flashed before my eyes again.

_We have Ella. If you try and retrieve her, she will be killed, or most likely experimented on. If you value her life, Max, come to our headquarters where we can talk. If not, well… you can guess for yourself._

_Warmest regards,_

_Mr. Chu & Dr. Marian Janssen _

And at the bottom left hand corner, there was a small, crudely drawn picture of a little stick man raising the Hawaiian flag.

**R&R!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you sooo much for the reviews! And thank you to mebeemmy, who reviewed like every chapter. And cassemlyds529!**

**Chapter 6**

I sniffled, and rubbed my hands across my eyes quickly.

"Sorry," I managed a weak smile. "I just totally lost it then."

My mom was still sitting on the floor with no signs of ever moving again. I stood up, and avoided Fang's gaze. A smirk was playing on his lips. Dang my emotional outbursts.

Brushing off my jeans, I fixed everybody with a hard, determined look.

"C'mon. We've got to go find Ella." My voice was only a little shaky, but otherwise, I sounded confident. Invincible Max was back. I held out my left fist, and everybody stacked theirs on top. We tapped with our right fists then broke up.

Not giving the motel a second look, I unfurled my wings and took off into the morning.

"So where are we going?" Nudge asked, after ten minutes of flying.

I was pretty startled by the question. Truth was, I hadn't really given thought to where we were actually _going_. But I knew where our eventual destination was, anyways.

"We're going to Hawaii," I said, focusing on my nails intently.

"Hawaii?" Nudge sounded amazed. "Really? I mean, _Hawaii_? Isn't that kind of ironic? That the CSM tried to bribe us with tickets to go there and we'd have to end up going there anyways, but shouldn't we try and get Ella first? I mean, the note said that they were going to kill or experiment-" Fang had thankfully slapped his hand over Nudge's mouth, and I shot him a grateful look.

"We're going to Hawaii because that's where Ella is," I said firmly. "The note had a drawing of a Hawaiian flag on it, remember?"

Nudge drew in a deep breath, probably to start bombarding me with new questions again, when we finally reached McDonalds.

My stomach growled. I hadn't eaten anything in _forever_. Except for, you know, the bagel and the four slices of pizza in the car. But I like to think that those just count as snacks. I needed more nutrition to grow at this crucial age.

We circled over a large clump of trees, trying to find somewhere to land. Angel finally detected a small opening in the canopy of trees, and we swooped in.

The flock and I all together had three hundred dollars, total. It wasn't much, but then we could always steal and mind control, and stuff. We walked in through the door, and bells jingled. The place was pretty empty, except for one kid sitting in the corner wearing a large black raincoat, looking out the window. He/she looked pretty lonely, and I contemplated the chances of him/her being a Flyboy. It wasn't a lot, but I kept my eye out the whole time.

I walked over to the counter, Nudge and Angel trailing behind me.

"Excuse me?" I asked. A brown haired girl turned around and walked over to my, snapping her gum loudly. I hoped she wasn't the one making our food.

"Um, two double cheeseburgers, two salads, three large fries, six packets of chicken nuggets, one strawberry smoothie, one chocolate, and one vanilla, and four Big Macs." I said quickly.

The girl behind the counter raised her pierced eyebrow at me but didn't say anything, and rang up the cash register. The flock and I headed towards our tables, Iggy, Fang, and Gazzy's arms all piled high with trays of food.

"Max?" Angel's big, blue eyes focused on mine.

"Yeah, honey?" I pushed her hair back from her face, promising to myself that I would get all the flock good, long showers soon.

"That girl over there, I can't read her mind." Angel frowned. "It's like Jeb, I can't get anything from her." She pointed to the girl wearing the raincoat.

I looked over at her too. I couldn't see anything except for the big, hulking raincoat and two skinny little arms sticking out from the sleeves. I wondered how Angel even could tell that kid was a girl.

"Really." I said. I looked over at Fang, who was methodically chewing his fries. Our eyes met, and I knew he'd heard what Angel had said. The girl in the corner was unnaturally still, watching the leaves blow across the parking lot.

"Order number one sixty!" The girl called, smacking her gum loudly against her teeth.

Nudge helped me carry the food, and I watched the girl out of my peripheral vision the whole way, but she didn't budge an inch.

"Mm…" I shoveled handfuls of chicken nuggets into my mouth, and took a long gulp of smoothie. And I took three bites of my burger, and dumped practically a third of the fries down my mouth.

Iggy smirked at me from the other table. Yeah, so what if I always complained about his table manners? It didn't mean I had to use mine.

Once we were full, and practically passed out on top of each other from all the greasy goodness, I kicked Nudge's leg. She looked to be about half asleep, and was holding her stomach in pain.

"Get up. We need to get a move on." When nobody moved, I had to use up my last shred of patience.

"_Get up_. I mean it." I knocked Fang and Iggy's heads together forcefully.

Fang rubbed his head reproachfully, while Iggy groaned. Even Gazzy looked sick.

"I can't move, Max. I feel like one, big giant blob. Like a circle." His fearful, big eyes looked at me worriedly. "Do you think I'm turning into a circle?"

I glared at him menacingly.

"I will rearrange you into one if you don't get that butt off that seat and out the door, _now_!" I hissed. Wow, that had sounded very momlike, even coming from me. I saw Fang and Nudge give me a strange look as we walked out.

Hours later, while we were soaring in the clouds, my lovely Voice decided to inform me with another tidbit of wisdom.

_Max, nobody is what they appear to be. And it wouldn't hurt to be more observant sometimes._

_You're right,_ I said back, just as sagely. _I don't pay any attention to what goes on around me,_ I added sarcastically. Then a sudden thought occurred to me. _You know, you sound just like Fang._

I chanced a glance over to where Fang was flying, his expression as solemn as ever. Huh. Maybe he secretly was the Voice, but was pretending to be all innocent? I narrowed my eyes at him, and at the same time realized how dumb that was and half laughed.

Fang saw me looking, and raised his eyebrow at my contorted face. My eyebrows were drawn together, moving up and down while my nostrils flared randomly, and I was doing this snorting thing. Nope, he definitely wasn't the Voice. I waved him off.

"Hey guys, our first landmark." I motioned to a large clearing in the middle of some thick woods, looking lonely in this mountainous landscape.

I looked over at the rest of the flock. Nudge's face was tired and weary, the effects of flying for seven hours straight after binging on fast food. Angel's limp curls were covered with dirt and were plastered to her small, pale face. Gazzy was definitely exhausted, and his eyelids drooped over his light azure eyes.

We were all dead beat. I felt like somebody had ran me over with a bulldozer and my wings ached like crap.

We all clumsily tumbled into the clearing, and Iggy dragged himself over to the middle and started the fire. He was talking to Fang, and all of a sudden, threw a flaming stick at his head. Fang hit him back, leaving a singe hole in Iggy's shirt. And at this point, I really didn't care if they stripped naked running down the streets throwing flaming sticks at each other. I was too dang tired.

I crawled over to where Angel, Nudge, and Gazzy were laying down, curled up against one another. I sat against a tree trunk near where they were, and watched the sparks leap and jump at each other, then eventually settle into a warm, pleasant fire.

"Max?" Nudge's muffled voice came from the huddle of bird kids.

"Yeah, sweetie?" I smiled at her.

"Are we going to get Ella back? She promised to show me how to do a flip off of the diving board."

This time, my smile was more forced.

"Well, duh. It's not like we're just going to leave her to the hands of Itex," I said.

I could practically see Nudge frowning.

"But then how do we take her back? Mr. Chu and the Director are in, like cahoots and that's double the evilness."

"We'll manage. We always do." I ruffled her hair. "Besides, compared to some of the other things we've done, this is child's play."

"I wouldn't make assumptions." A high, tinkling voice came from somewhere above me.

I stood up whirled around, my fists clenched. I saw Nudge, Angel and Gazzy sit up and Fang and Iggy jump to their feet as I searched for the voice. The dark trees swayed silently in the wind, but I couldn't see anybody through the thick foliage.

"Who's there?" Come out," I snarled, whipping my head from side to side.

A small, slight figure leaped out of nowhere from the trees, so quietly that even Iggy didn't turn his head. It walked over slowly to us, but its steps were light and quick. I could feel my heart pounding against my chest. Who was it now? A horde of mutants specialized to jump from high distances?

As the figure got closer, I realized it was a person, and about the size of Nudge, maybe smaller. And 'it' was a girl, small and petite, with average length sunny blonde hair and catlike, large emerald eyes. I did have to admit that she was pretty, like supermodel pretty, but only looked to be around Gazzy's age. And with a start, I recognized her as the girl from McDonalds, with the huge black raincoat. But that wasn't what shocked me the most, what made me step back and hit my head on a tree.

It was her wings.

Her blue, _butterfly_ wings.

**So how was it? I hope it's okay that I gave her wings, because I hear it's like way overused, so I gave her butterfly wings, because that's sorta different. Reveiw please! **


	7. Chapter 7

**So… going to reply to my reviewers:**

**mebeemmy: Aww thanks! Hahaha yeah, that might be going over the top. :)**

**korkyz beast: I'm updating right now, so yeah. :]**

**Maximum Poop: … no comment.**

**chickenchick: yupps :P**

**FantasyX3: Lol ty v.v. much :) **

**iloveu96xyx: Actually I don't think I'm going to make a sequel, since it's hard for me to stick with one thing alot. **

**Lmao… yea true dat, if Iggy gained like 100 pounds and grew a beard.**

**Really? That's like high praise. Um… my two friends convinced me. :D**

**It's actually not that scary, but I don't think your baby cousin would really like it, not unless he/she likes zombies?**

**Thank youuu!**

**Yeah, she does kinda remind me of Alice but the butterfly girl has more attitude. Hahaha I'm a girl, in case you wanted to know. Thanks for all the funny compliments. I fell off my chair because I was laughing so hard, and I hit my head on the chair leg. :)**

**cassemlyds529: You have to read to find out!**

**Okay, I'm going to just shut up and start the chapter now. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 7**

Years of training with Jeb and instinct kicked in, and I did the most sensible thing to do when faced with a situation like this: my mouth dropped open.

The girl's catlike green eyes glimmered, and she took a small half step closer to us. I instantly moved in front of Gazzy, Angel, and Nudge protectively, a growl hissing from my teeth. Fang and Iggy moved beside me to flank my left and right.

I mean, who was this girl? She had _wings_. And not like the type that me and the flock shared, but like a butterfly's. Her wings were smoother, featherless, and they shimmered and shined as she twitched them this way and that. It looked like they were covered in tiny miniature scales, or something like that. Her wings were insanely thin, and they were dark blue at the top, fading to a light grey at the bottom. They were outlined in black, and she sported two large brown circles on each of her wings.

"Who the hell are you?" I asked my voice coming out in a sneer. I silently congratulated myself controlling my voice so well. It was the exact opposite of what I was really feeling.

"Me?" She asked, and a little giggle escaped her lips. She did a small graceful twirl, and gave a little curtsy.

"I'm Aster, and you're Max, aren't you?" her playful expression was replaced with one of seriousness as she addressed me. I blinked my eyes. Huh, bipolar much?

"What do you want?" I asked menacingly. Who was this girl? And what was up with her wings? How had she gotten them? Was she born with them naturally, or had she been experimented on by the School? Why was she following us? My mind reeled. Even my amazingly large brain couldn't cope with all this new information.

Aster shrugged, her pointy little shoulders moving up and down.

"I was at the library a few days ago, and I saw these girls checking out this blog. And I looked over to see what they were reading, and it apparently was something called Fang's Blog. And you guys had wings, just like me, and I thought that was insanely cool, that you had wings like me." She gave a little sheepish grin. "Except, you know, my wings are slightly different. I consider myself a pretty decent fighter, and I've had some experience. And I wanna help fight Itex, and I figured that I would be one of the only ones who actually _could_." She giggled again, and I could practically hear the flock saying,_ is she for real?_

I advanced closer to her, and getting closer I managed to loom over her threateningly. But she just looked at me back, and I could sorta read what she was thinking. Her eyes were clear and guileless. I turned around.

"Angel?" I asked, and Angel shook her head. Right. I'd forgotten that she couldn't hear her mind. Nevertheless, she was a threat, and we couldn't trust her. I opened my mouth to share this little tidbit when Nudge spoke before me.

"I think she should stay," she told me quietly. I glanced at Nudge in disbelief. Since when was my flock making the decisions for me? I tried to give her understandable and gentle reasons why she couldn't stay with us.

"Why the heck would we let her stay? We don't know anything about her!" I demanded. Okay, I had got to work on my self control.

"What can you do?" I turned on Aster furiously. "Any special talents?"

Aster looked at me gravely, but I think I saw a little glint of mischievous in her eye.

"I can make ice cubes out of blocks of water," she told me solemnly, putting I hand on her chest. "Honest. Ooh, and I'm great with hairstyles."

"That's pretty cool." I swiveled back to Gazzy. He was grinding his sneakers into the dirt, not meeting my eyes. "Besides, she has wings. Maybe she knows about our parents, or something," he said.

I tried not to roll my eyes in exasperation. "Well… she's too young!" I finally exclaimed, grasping at straws.

Aster gave me a patronizing look that immediately made me bite my tongue and take back my previous words.

"I'm _fifteen_," she stressed, and shrugged again. "Even though I don't look it."

I glanced at Iggy, hoping he would dislike this new girl as much as me, because she was so silent he probably couldn't hear her and all that. But _no_, he looked positively ecstatic at having an older girl join the flock, even for a few days. I gritted my teeth. Traitor.

I looked to Fang for help. Surely he would be by me on this one?

But it turned out to be a lost cause. Fang looked as captivated by the butterfly girl as the younger set. I was the only one who could tell, the slight widening of this eyes and the line of drool dribbling it's way down his chin. (Just kidding about the drool part. But still.)

Fang drew me aside quickly, and I faced him, my arms crossed. His cool, dark eyes assessed me briefly.

"Max, she's got wings. She's come from the School too, probably, and-"

"And that's why we can't trust her!" I exploded, my voice carrying on in a furious whisper.

"She could be an implant, or someone sent to spy on us. Or maybe she has a chip in her, like me. Or most likely, she's some weird, messed up, perky genetic experiment gone horribly wrong and at the school!" I hissed.

Fang raised his eyebrow and motioned to my back.

"Are you saying we're not messed up, recombinant mutants? Because I hope that's not what you meant," he said, a wounded expression on his face. "Because I like to think that I'm special, in a _very_ special way."

I was about ready to jump Fang.

He sighed, and placed his hand on my cheek. I felt a shiver go up my spine.

"If she's some kind of implant from the Itex, then we should count our blessings. We're _trying_ to find their headquarters, and she'll probably make things easier." His voice sounded so earnest, so… confident that I almost believed him, and I probably would have fallen for it I he hadn't moved his hand up to my forehead, and tapped sharply on it, three times.

"Hm…" he muttered, a frown crossing his face. "It sounds pretty hollow," he knocked again on my head, his time harder. "Yup, definitely empty." Well _that_ ruined the moment. I pushed him away disgustedly.

"Quit it," I said angrily.

I stalked my way back to the clearing with some dignity, and saw that Aster and Angel seemed to be making very animated conversation.

"How'd you get your wings?" I snapped at her. And she turned to me without a look of surprise.

"Jeez, don't need to be so pushy," she muttered, and flashed her pearly whites at me.

"I came from this place filled with lab coat guys, and it sucked pretty bad." She made a face. "There were experiments dying next to me all the time and it was so horrible, because I usually got to know them before they were carted off to be Eraser food. So one day when I was three, I overheard the lab nerds whispering about me one day, and I picked up on what they were saying. Apparently I didn't have any parents and I was just made from a bunch of DNA mixed and scrambled together, and they artificially birthed me. The details are pretty yucky, so I'll spare you that." She had got to be kidding me. There was no way she was fifteen.

"Anyways, so these two guys were muttering about my DNA, and of course, I had to listen in. They said that I actually had gotten the wrong DNA, because of some intern. Some new, stupid lab geek had mixed up the test tubes and gave me butterfly DNA, instead of the one I was supposed to be given originally."

"What was it?" Gazzy couldn't resist himself form asking.

Aster muttered something quickly under her breath, looking down. I saw Iggy stifle a snicker.

"What did you say?" Angel asked, leaning forward.

"CANE TOAD," she said loudly. Then she frowned, considering. "Or it could have been a sloth, I'm not sure."

She glared at the flock's bright red faces.

"IT'S NOT THAT FUNNY GUYS," she snapped. I backed up, holding my sides and shaking my head.

"You're right, it's not funny. It's hilarious, I snorted. Fang seemed to be the only one who was doubled over in laughter, but even he looked like he was holding in some chuckles.

"I bet you would have looked pretty cute as a sloth," Iggy hooted. "With the fur and all that." And suddenly, he was on the ground with him arms bent behind his back, and a very angry Aster sitting on top of him.

"Shut up, blind boy," she hissed. "Like you would know cute if it came up and gouged your eyes out." She squeezed his arm harder, and Iggy groaned and struggled in pain. I mulled over going to them and saving Iggy for a second. Just for a second. He soooo deserved that, since he had wanted her to stay with us in the first place.

I frowned. Iggy was using all his strength to try and wiggle free out of her long-nailed clutches, but Aster just sat rock still on his back and didn't scoot an inch. Which was really freaky, since Iggy and the rest of the flock all have like super strength, or something like that.

"Um… Aster?" Nudge said hesitantly, reaching out her hand.

Aster looked up, and sprung off of Iggy's back.

"Sorry," she said, dusting off her jeans and tossing her glossy blonde hair. "I just got carried away. But it happens, right?" She offered a smile around, which no one took.

"Yeah," I said slowly. "Well here, it doesn't."


	8. Chapter 8

**Thanks to Cassemlyds529 for reviewing!**

**But seriously, only one review? Please please review!**

**Chapter 8**

We were coasting over the Idaho- Nevada border. It was pretty windy up in the sky, and the air breezed through my feathers playfully. I usually would have been in an awesome mood, except for Ella probably might be dying a certain painful death at this very second, and that _new girl._

I glared at the three small figures ahead at me angrily. Nudge and Angel were sticking to Aster like glue, and they had this look in their eyes whenever they looked at her that was close to worship.

Right now Angel was shape-shifting into her fuzzy blue bird, and Aster giggled delightedly and messed up Angel's hair. I grinded my teeth. That was _my_ job.

Nudge was rambling excitedly in Aster's ear, most likely going on about fashion or clothes, or something unimportant like that.

And Fang, Iggy, and Gazzy were all huddled up together, whispering and casting quick, secret looks towards Aster. And me. I clenched fists and tried not to go over there and shove them into a mountain, face first.

Aster glanced back at me, smiling and motioning for me to come over. I shook my head like the diplomat I was, and continued fantasizing about smashing the boys' heads into little pieces of cheese. And all that would be left were three heads, mounted on wooden stakes…

Angel looked at me alarmingly and bit her lip, and half heartedly made her way towards me. I waved her off, and she hesitantly turned away again.

_Max,_ the Voice sang.

_And _what _could you possibly want this time? _I replied crossly, a bit of ice layering my words.

_Well, can't an old friend check up on you?_ It asked.

I rolled my eyes.

_Well, right now you can't,_ I thought. _I'm way too busy to talk to you. _

_What are you busy doing?_ If I didn't know any better, I think the Voice sounded a little amused.

_Well, I'm trying to figure out how to bust out Ella and murder Mr. Chu while saving the world and keeping an eye on Aster, _I said.

_Is that all?_ The Voice said.

_Well, you know, I do other things too,_ I thought, improvising wildly. _Like, girl stuff. You know, trying on makeup and looking at clothes… and stuff._

_Mm-hm._ The Voice sounded like it was actually thinking over my words.

_Well, I think you _are_ too busy, and I'm asking you take a break,_ it suggested mildly. _I think you and the flock should visit Vegas._

_What the heck? _Vegas_? Are you crazy? No way! What, do you want to show us how to gamble or something?_ I thought, flapping my wings faster. I couldn't have been more surprised if Gazzy had told me that he and Megan Fox were going to get married, and Iggy would be their preacher.

_You've seriously got to be kidding me. I've got to save Ella! There's no time to play poker, or get a pedicure!_

And sadly, this was all too true. There wasn't any time in my life where I had time to sit back, grab a good book and a glass of lemonade, and _relax_.

_Max, I'm asking you very nicely,_ Voice said quietly. _Don't force me to do something we both don't want._

I actually snorted out loud.

_Or what?_ I asked it snidely. _Or you'll recite a history book? Talk me to death? Or wistfully reminisce about your young, rascally whippersnapper days? You can't murder me by talking my ear off; because Nudge has already tried to, and ended up with half of her head shaved off._

_The Voice's voice sounded sad._

_I didn't want to have to do this. I'm sorry, Max,_ it said, actually sounding remorseful. _But you drove me to it._

I was forced to bite back a smart reply when a searing pain sliced through my skull, and I clutched at my head with both hands, shot straight out of the sky, dropping like a ton of bricks. This pain was worse than before, and I clawed at my head, trying to scream but my mouth wouldn't open. I dimly felt a pair of small, warm hands grab my arms and another set of large, more rough hands start lowering me down gently. I tried not to whimper, but _God_, I just wished I could die. My head pounded, and I squeezed my head even harder, trying to squish the pain out, trying to die, anything to relieve the pain. It could have been minutes or hours, but I was gently dropped ten feet up from the ground onto hard, rocky dirt, and my skull cracked against a large rock.

After a while, I felt the pain fading, and I realized there was a cool washcloth pressed against my forehead and hands rubbing my back, and soothing, anxious voices.

I finally managed to sit up and rub my face, when I felt warm, salty droplets running down from my eyes. Crap.

The flock was gazing at me concernedly, and a little frightened. Aster was narrowing her eyes at me. Surprise.

"Max? What happened? Was it one of your headaches?" Nudge asked.

I nodded, and a bolt of electricity shot through my neck. _Ouch._ Whiplash.

"Having another one of your dramatic little episodes?" Fang asked me, and although he was grinning, his jaw was tight.

I rolled my eyes and tried to speak, but my voice wouldn't come out.

"This inconsiderate freak here smashed your head against a rock," Aster said, glaring at Fang.

Fang muttered something under his breath quickly.

I struggled to stand to my feet, and Iggy and Nudge instantly moved by me, to support my weak legs.

"Nah, it's okay. I'm perfectly fine." I tried to give them a convincing smile, but it came out as a grimace.

Six faces watched me closely, waiting to see if I would suddenly keel over or something like that.

"Well, we can't waste time," I said, in my very- businessy tone.

"We've got to go save El-" my voice choked off, and I doubled over, wheezing, and clutching my throat.

Worried whispers circulated through the group of bird kids. (Well, one butterfly kid.)

I tried to talk, but my voice croaked and I wheezed again, poking my throat with angst. I heard them murmuring,

"What's happening?"

"Is Max okay?"

"Another headache?"

"No, I think she's choking."

"Does she need the Heimlich?" That was Fang.

"I know mouth to mouth." Iggy, sounding as cheerful as ever.

I saw Iggy moving over to me, and I backed away. Clearing my throat and blinking my watery eyes rapidly.

"No," I rasped. "There will be no mouth to mouth here." I ignored Fang's pointed look. "I'm fine, seriously. I just… choked on my spit."

Aster was narrowing her eyes at me again. It wasn't as if this girl could read my mind or, something. That reminded me. I quickly glanced over to where Angel was standing, and she didn't seem to be too worried. So I guessed she hadn't been paying attention to my mind right then.

"Max, are you sure you're okay?" Gazzy's earnest blue eyes stared at me, and I swallowed. I had to lie for the flock.

"I'm fine. Like I told you, I just… choked." I saw Iggy's disappointed look. Wow, I could tell that he had _really_ missed Ella. Sometimes, it was so hard to tell when he was joking or not.

"Well, we're off to Haw-" this time, I didn't fall to my knees gasping for breath. No words came out.

_I warned you,_ the Voice said smugly.

_I thought that you didn't like being sadistic, and all that crap, _I thought angrily.

_I'm sorry Max, I really am. I love you like my own daughter and I hate causing you pain, but if you don't listen to me, then I'll have to be forced to take action._

I couldn't even control my own thoughts. The Voice was taking over.

_You suck,_ I thought acidly.

_As long as you go to Vegas I'm happy,_ the Voice said.

I gritted my teeth, and ran my nails down one arm, feeling my mind sharpen as I released my frustration and fury.

Angel reached out a hand, but Aster pulled her back.

"Okay, guys. Change of plan. We're going to Vegas."

This announcement was not met with cheers or whoops, only stunned silence. Iggy and Nudge looked mad, even.

_I'm going to get you back for this, someday,_ I thought.

_You'll thank me later,_ the Voice said, all satisfied.

**Hope you liked it.**


	9. Chapter 9

**I am soooooo sorry!! It's been really weird these days… Like flying turtle weird. But I'll stop making excuses.**

**underlanderfromtheoverland: Well, Voice isn't actually Jeb. Max has two voice in her head, and Jeb doesn't talk to her through the Voice anymore. Yeah, I don't really get what JP was saying.**

**iloveu96xyx: Iggy would be a hot nun. Nuff said. :) **

**cassemlyds529: Well, Las Vegas has casinos, volcanoes and pirate shows. So I think it could be fun. :)**

**mebeemmy: I hope you're still alive so you can read this chapter! I apologize again.**

**Here's **

**Chapter 9**

"Well guys, we'll stop here." I motioned to the sorta flat terrain below us, and the flock plus Aster dropped down gratefully, their wings flapping slowly.

I flew down behind them, and when I felt my boots hit ground, I crumpled to the dusty ground, exhausted. But I was trying not to show it, you know, so I hastily picked myself up off the ground.

There was a small clearing ahead, mostly devoid of little trees and shrub-like things. We had been flying for a couple hours, without any stops or resting. Flying to Las Vegas was pretty tiring, having to fly over low cliffs, and dodge around high mountains. But right now, I didn't exactly know where we were. Somewhere in the low part of a mountain range.

I dragged myself over to the middle of the clearing and pulled a few random twigs and pine needles in the middle, and asked Fang with my weary eyes to collect more firewood. He obliged and got up, while Iggy wordlessly dug around in his pockets for matches.

"Max?" Nudge sidled up to me, half crawling.

I tucked a lock of her curly dark hair behind her ear.

"Yeah?"

"Do you know where we are?" I stopped and pressed my lips together. I actually didn't know. I bet Total would have known, with all his tourism expertise. With a bit of surprise, I realized I had actually missed his yammering little muzzle.

"We're somewhere in the Ruby Mountains." Fang came back carrying an armful of tree branches and pine needles. "Angel Lake shouldn't be too far from here." He dropped the pile onto my pitiful stack of twigs.

"Geography freak," I muttered under my breath.

"_Angel_ Lake?" Angel popped up from her lying position, her blond curls springing around her face.

"Looks like you have your own lake named after you," Gazzy tried to smirk, but his face gave away to a disappointed look.

"I wish there was a lake named after me. Too bad, I guess." He edged closer to the fire.

"Yeah." Iggy snorted. "What's it gonna be called? Gasman Lake?"

Gazzy shook his head seriously.

"No, I was thinking there could be something _bigger_ named after me. So I could be like, famous. Like an ocean, or a continent, I guess."

"The Gasman continent? I don't really want to imagine it," Fang said.

Gazzy bit his lip.

"Yeah, I guess I see you point… but still."

A small giggle escaped from Aster's lips, who had been sitting at the edge of the clearing, studying her nails the whole time.

I turned to her.

"Aster? We need to scope the perimeter. Take someone along with you," I ordered bossily.

Aster didn't even look up from her nails.

"Iggy? Can you come with me?"

Iggy looked surprised. And faintly pleased.

"Why me?" He asked.

"Because you're cute." Aster scratched at her pinky nail critically.

There was silence. I saw color rising to Iggy's cheeks, and I took a slow, long breath, trying not to groan in frustration. Great way to keep the flock focused, Max, I thought to myself angrily.

Aster rose fluidly and tugged Iggy to his feet, and he followed her, seeming like he was still stunned, into the distance.

"Well." Fang cleared his throat awkwardly. I poked at the flames with a stick.

"I think we should get some rest," I said. "I'll take first watch."

"Aren't you scared that Aster's going to ambush Iggy, or something?" Angel peered at me closely.

Um… did I?

"Well, I don't think so," I said slowly. "I mean, although Iggy's blind, he's pretty fast…" I looked at her. "What? Is that what you think I think? It isn't like I hate Aster, or anything."

The rest of the flock looked at me doubtfully.

I sighed.

"Okay, all it is that she could _possibly_ be spy material from the School, and we're just accepting her here with any questions? And she's so… unnatural."

"And we're not?" Fang arched an eyebrow.

I couldn't believe it! Fang was actually defending this evil little fairy!

"I didn't mean it like that," I ground out. "I meant how unnaturally enthusiastic and happy she is all the time. It's not healthy."

Fang didn't even blink.

"Max, I don't think it's good to be this paranoid," Angel told me solemnly. "Hitler and Stalin were paranoid too, and look where they ended up."

"Yeah, Max. You don't want to end up like that." Nudge gave a delicate shudder. "Soon, you'll start looking like Hitler too. You'll begin by writing a book about your struggles in life, and before you know it, you're going to feel a mysterious urge to grow a mustache and hack it into a shape of a trapezoid and-"

Nudge suddenly fell silent. She gave me an apologetic smile.

"Sorry. I keep forgetting to keep quiet."

I frowned.

"Being paranoid has saved our all butts, and my own like a billion times over. If we weren't so paranoid, we probably wouldn't be still living right now," I said. "There's nobody to trust but ourselves, got it? And especially not some small, freaky insect girl."

"Okay, so I guess the wings are a little weird," Gazzy admitted.

"Yeah, but it's not any weirder then what we have." Nudge pitched in, shuffling her wings a bit.

I examined the flock carefully. We didn't have time to argue, as clichéd as that sounded. But they were going to keep arguing with me until the crack of dawn, and by then we would be grumpy, tired, and pooped to death.

"Yeah. Whatever. You guys are right," I said as realistically as I could. "Aster is a wonderful, perfect person/mutant, and we couldn't survive otherwise without her. Happy now?" I met each of their gazes and held out my fist.

They stacked their hands on the top of mine, and the flock tapped and dispersed. Except for Gazzy.

"Hey, Gazzy. Your should get some sleep now." I looked into his adorable blue eyes, and tried to ignore the heavy, dark bags penciled into the skin under his eyes.

"Uh huh. I just wanted to ask a question."

"Sure…"

"Why is that the stacking-hands-and-tapping thing is what we do? I mean, why not a high five? Not that I don't like it," he added hastily. "I was just wondering."

I was pretty startled. I mean, I had a reason why I had chosen it as our flock thing, but I didn't think anybody was really going to ask.

"It's sign language. The tapping fists mean work, and I figured if we all stacked our hands and tapped, then that would mean we would be working together." I watched Gazzy's face carefully as he considered.

"Oh, well. That makes sense. Good night, Max." He turned and walked back to where Angel and Nudge were resting.

"Huh." Well, whatever. I headed over to the nearest log on the edge of the clearing and sat, trying to stay wide awake and on alert, but the stress just seemed to be getting to me…

"Max!" My eyes snapped open, and I leaped up to my feet, fighting off the wave of vertigo. I tracked where the source of the sound came from, and was relieved when it turned out to be only Aster and Iggy.

I glanced at the stars. Three hours had passed, from the position of the stars. (I could totally be a pro astronomer.)

"Hey, Iggy. You're back." I tried not to look like I had just woken up. I was pretty ashamed of myself, though. This was my first time falling asleep on watch. We could have all been killed because of my carelessness, or whatever. But I didn't have time to mentally berate myself, because I noticed that Aster was holding Iggy's hand. In a death grip. Seriously, his knuckles looked white. (Whiter then before, anyways.) But he didn't seem to mind.

"Oh my God Max, we found Angel Lake!" Aster practically squealed. She seemed to be having trouble reining herself in, then took a deep breath.

"It's the most beautiful thing ever," she said earnestly. "And it'll look even better at sunrise."

I looked up at the bright, glowing moon.

"We still have a few hours 'till," I said.

"I'll take second watch," Aster offered. "You deserve some sleep. You've been up for like, three hours? And I don't really need that much sleep."

I felt really, really bad about falling asleep and I could only be incredibly grateful that we hadn't been ambushed by rabid bunnies, or something. And I was pissed that Aster was making me feel all guilty.

I pointedly looked away from Aster. Hello, I wasn't that stupid to assign her watch.

"No, thanks. I'll take second too. I'll wake Nudge up for third," I assured her.

"Well, good night. Be sure to tell Nudge to wake us all up for sunrise," Aster said, and yawned daintily, covering her mouth with her hand. I watched as she practically hauled Iggy behind her.

"Max! Get up!" I woke to the sound of Iggy's desperate voice coming from somewhere above me. He tugged on my hair. I struck out, feeling my fist strike skin. He never saw it coming. (Hee hee.) I heard Iggy's breath leave him in a 'whoosh'.

Ha. Teach you to mess with Max in the morning.

"Please wake up!" he hissed. "Aster threatened to pluck my wings if I didn't wake everybody else up in time."

"And _why _would I want to stop her from doing that?" I asked, enjoying the torment I was causing him. But I wasn't totally evil, so I sat up anyways… to see Aster practically jumping up and down on top of Fang to get him to wake up. She was bouncing around the camp, like some hyperactive butterfly.

"C'mon guys! We're going to miss it!" she said hysterically, running around some very confused bird kids, her blue wings fluttering so fast I thought she was going to be lifted right off the ground. "You don't' want to miss it, _do you_?" The last part sounded like a growl. I rubbed my eyes. I could see the sunlight peeking through the miniature trees, but you couldn't really see the sunrise because the vegetation in the way. There were some clouds in the sky, colored faint grays and pinks.

"_Get up now!_ You're _not _going to miss it!" she shrieked at the flock, a maniac look in her eyes.

Okay, so I'm not one that will get scared by a midget more than a foot smaller than me, but I figured it would be smarter to just hurry and visit Angel Lake.

We hurried through our breakfast, some scrambled eggs. We all watched Iggy's pained expression as she snapped at us to eat quicker. Did you know I'm not really a morning person? I was ready to snap off her little wings, but restrained myself for Iggy's sake.

We flew over a bunch of small trees, and the sun was rising rapidly. The clouds were now tinged with purple and gold.

"We're almost there," Aster announced, now sounding totally calm.

"Joy," I muttered.

"Max! I see it!" Angel exclaimed, pointing to a spot in the terrain where the trees suddenly stopped, and the land sloped downwards into a gentle incline. It was like a big crater in the earth, and the lake was in the middle. I could only get a glimpse of the lake though, because the sunlight would strike the moving water, and then flash right back into my eyes.

"Yeah, I see it too, honey," I said absentmindedly, wishing that I had eaten some more breakfast today. Four eggs were not enough for a trip this long.

"Do we have to see Angel Lake?" I heard Gazzy complain to Nudge. Aster and Angel both whirled on him.

"Yes," they said simultaneously, and Gazzy flapped a little ways back instinctively.

The clouds looked really pretty enough without the sun or the lake. I didn't get why we had to fly all the way over here. No view, no matter how _pretty_, was worth using time meant to be rescuing my sister.

"Okay, guys. We're don't look at the sun immediately. It's better if you get the full effect," Aster said.

Yeah, right.

Just to annoy her, I sped ahead of the rest of the flock, and landed without much trouble on the edge of the craggy cliff. The morning was dark, but still light enough for me to see the small paths of grass and patches of pine trees and shrubs below me, on the side of the cliff. I looked down at the water. It wasn't anything remarkable, so why was Aster so excited about it?

The flock landed in a heap next to me. Angel and Nudge wore faces of disappointment, but Aster held up one finger.

"Hold on. Wait for it." Like we had any choice about it. I shifted restlessly. I had no idea what was so pretty about this boring lake.

And a second later, I got my answer.

The sun rose above the trees into the horizon, and it blazed brilliant red and gold shades, and its rays spread quickly around the sky, filling the landscape with color. Feathery clouds were spread everywhere, all seeming to be streaking towards the reddish yellow ball in the center. The faint colors of the clouds were suddenly increased to like, 2000%, and the pinks and purples became dramatic hues of bright carmine and dark magenta, orange and azure. And if you looked more down the cliff, you could see the small ripples of water in the lake pushing against each other, when the beams of sunlight hit the moving water, making it look like the whole lake was sparkling, pulsing in time to its own beat. (Who says I'm not poetic??) Basically, it seemed like an artist had taken a blank white canvas and went completely schizo, and thrown random paints at the paper.

Nudge turned to me, her eyes glistening.

"It's so beautiful," she said. I didn't say anything. I didn't have to.

Aster was looking at all of us with a smug expression, and for once, I didn't feel like slugging her in the face. How's that for somebody who doesn't like anything touchy-feely?

"This place certainly lives up to its name," I said, and Angel smiled at me, her eyes also wet.

"I guess we can stay here until the sun completely rises," I walked closer to where Fang was standing, staring straight at the view. I slipped my hand into his and watched the view, too.

"It's really nice, isn't it?" I asked softly. Fang's dark eyes widened in mock surprise. "Nice? I don't think that's the word to describe it," he said, and I punched him in the arm. And we watched the rest of the sunrise together, holding hands on the small cliffs overlooking Angel Lake.


End file.
